


The Promise of the World

by engmaresh



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Children of Characters, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Multi, Polyamory, Retirement, Romance, baavira week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:01:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25230556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/engmaresh/pseuds/engmaresh
Summary: After many long years, democracy is finally being introduced to the Earth Empire. Avatar Korra arrives in Ba Sing Se to escort former President Kuvira and her family out of the city. But will Kuvira accept retirement and a quiet life away from politics?
Relationships: Baatar Jr./Kuvira (Avatar), Korra/Kuvira (Avatar)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 31





	The Promise of the World

**Author's Note:**

> The poly relationship here is Korra/Kuvira and Baatar Jr/Kuvira. It's a V, there's no Baatar Jr/Korra in this equation.
> 
> For _Baavira Week Day 7: Free Space_.

From the looks of it, the celebrations were still going strong well into the second day. Snatches of song drift up to Korra from the streets. Stalls were bedecked with colourful flags and garlands. Children wove their way through the crowd below, shouting, cheering, and laughing with joy. The mood was joyous, and the people seemed happy, and the sight filled Korra with an indescribable sense of tranquility. After the centuries of political turmoil in their nation, the citizens of the former Earth Kingdom deserved their peace.

Korra’s flight path took her past the center square, where Kuvira’s mural was still up. Twenty years ago, it had been a flag, a marker of her occupation, her claim upon the city. The flag itself now sat in the Ba Sing Se National History Museum, but the mural had sprung up a week after its removal. From the looks of it, flowers and well wishes had been laid out on the ground and tacked to the surrounding walls over the past few days, wishing the former president of the Earth Republic well, or thanking her for her years of service.

Korra couldn’t help but purse her lips a little at the sight. She wasn't all too fond of the shrine, as she knew some called it, knowing that it still fed into the little cult of personality Kuvira had had going since her days as the Great Uniter. But with her presidency finally having come to an end, Korra hoped that _that_ part of Kuvira’s influence would begin to fade. The mural could remain solely a memorial to how far the nation had come. Besides, she was here to make sure Kuvira kept her fingers out of Earth Republic politics for the foreseeable future, for as long as she could manage it.

The Presidential Residence was located in what had once been Ba Sing Se’s Inner Ring, though the hadn’t existed for two decades now, not since Ghazan had torn down the first wall, and Kuvira demolished the rest. It didn’t make the presidential district any less wealthy, though the buildings were less obviously opulent than they’d been when the royal family had been in charge of things. Among the rows of mansions, Kuvira’s only stood out thanks to the large number of people milling about the front gate, as well as the long entourage of trucks lined up the driveway.

A guard spotted Shu Mai and Korra guided her air bison in a half-turn to show off the White Lotus seal embellished on her saddle. Satisfied, the guard directed her via hand gestures to the grassy lawn at the of the house, where Korra could land and avoid most of the crowd.

Shu Mai landed with a soft _whumph_ and before Korra could even alight from the saddle, ambled over to the neem trees planted along the porch. Deliberately planted there. Korra chuckled at the memory of Kuvira solemnly patting down the earth around the sapling she’d buried. “Hearts and minds, Korra,” she’d said.

“You’re bribing my air bison,” Korra had pointed out. “With food.”

“Hearts and minds,” Kuvira repeated, but her solemness had eased into a smile as she’d raised a dirt-stained hand to Korra’s cheek to kiss her.

Korra shook the memory from her mind with a smile, and peered through the open door. “Kuvira!” she yelled. “Baatar! Altani!” She stepped past the threshold. Most of the room had already been cleared of furniture, leaving only dustballs behind. She heard the familiar clack of hard-soled boots and turned around.

“Kuvira!”

“Hey Korra,” said Kuvira casually, peeling off a soiled-stained pair of gardening gloves and dropping them carelessly by the door. “Sorry, was making sure they loaded up my peonies properly.”

“You know you could just propagate a cutting in your new home.”

“You grow them by division, and that’s not the point. You’ve never been to Teck Sang’s garden parties. The landscaping’s atrocious. I could never leave them to die in his care.”

“How terrible,” said Korra drily, winding her arms around Kuvira’s neck. She smelled like grass and dirt and sweat. She must have been gardening without a sunhat, because her sleek dark braid was warm in Korra’s hands as she playfully twisted it about her finger.

“You don’t care about my--” Korra cut her off with a kiss. Kuvira huffed against her lips, but quickly opened up to her, warm and teasing.

“It’s been a while,” she said when they finally broke apart.

Korra scratched the back of her neck. “Avatar stuff. And it’s not like you haven’t been busy either."

Kuvira turned away, lips pursing. The results of the election hadn’t pleased her, but she’d thankfully agreed to step down without any pressure from Korra. When she’d first come into power, she’d signed an agreement to slowly transition the Earth Empire into a democratic state. Korra suspected that her anger at the election results stemmed more from a personal sense of betrayal than any desire to keep holding on to power. After all, she’d governed what was now the Earth Republic for almost twenty years.

“You’re gonna enjoy retirement.”

Kuvira snorted.

“So,” said Korra, looking around. “Where’s the hubby? And Tani?”

“Baatar’s somewhere in the front, having conniptions. Someone loaded one of his energy dampener prototypes wrongly.”

Korra made a face. “Crap.”

But Kuvira only laughed and waved a dismissive hand. “It’s fine, it’s not live, just delicate. Tani’s...somewhere.” She tapped her heel absently against the ground, then looked up at the ceiling. “Her room. Last I checked, she was trying to decide what instrument to bring along on the ride.”

She shook her head. “Beifongs. Driving me insane.”

“I’m here,” said Korra. “I’m not a Beifong.”

“You drive me insane in other ways,” muttered Kuvira, but she allowed Korra to draw her in and press another kiss to her temple.

They stood like that for a moment, enjoying the quiet and the closeness. Korra was going to miss this house. It had probably belonged to some high ranking royal advisor during the Hou Ting era, and looted during the Ba Sing Se riots. While stabilizing Ba Sing Se, Kuvira had made it her headquarters, and after her retreat from Republic City, she’d come back here. Over the years it had turned from military outpost, to government headquarters, to bunker and finally into a proper home. Not that the past was ever permanently erased. The wallpaper in the room had been peeled away, revealing nicks in the wall, and a rather large scorch mark in a corner where there’d previously been a chaise.

“Kuvira!”

They turned as one towards the front of the house.

“Korra’s here, her bison’s landed--”

“We’re here!” Kuvira yelled back.

Baatar was frowning slightly when he walked into the room, but broke into a smile when he saw Korra.

“Hello Korra.” She stepped forward and they embraced briefly, Baatar leaning down to press a quick kiss to her offered cheek. “Thank you for coming, it’s great to see you. This one,” and he jerked his head at Kuvira, “has been driving me insane.”

Kuvira scoffed. “You’re already insane. Look at you. You’re beginning to look like Varrick.”

“I do not,” he insisted, but his hand went automatically up to his hair, smoothing it back. Despite his efforts, it still looked like he’d run his hands through it several times.

“The movers have everything loaded, unless you still have something hidden in the bunker that I don’t know about. Is Tani ready?”

Kuvira shrugged. “Last I checked, Altani was trying to decide between the pipa and the erhu, and you’d both better pray to Yue that she chooses the pipa.”

Korra exchanged a look with Baatar. “I’ll go get her,” she volunteered. “You two make sure you have everything.”

The original design of the house had apparently included a grand staircase in the front hall of the house, part of an architectural style that had briefly been popular during the time of its construction. At some point during her occupation, Kuvira had remodeled, and all that remained of the structure where the metal supports that hummed in the walls, left there as a defensive measure. The actual staircase that led to the upper floor was tucked away, narrow and ever so slightly wonky, bent out of stone by hands far more skilled at destruction than building.

“Altani?” she called when she reached the landing. A good defensive spot, Kuvira had once called it, silly with wine.

“Korra!”

She heard the twang of an instrument, incoming footsteps, and turned to receive an armful of girl. “Korra!” Altani cried, squeezing her in a tight hug. “It’s about time! Mom and dad have been driving me nuts!”

Korra grinned. Looked like everyone was quietly going crazy. Kuvira’s retirement would do them all good. “Well it’s a good thing I’m here then.”

“C’mon,” said Altani, grabbing Korra by the hand and pulling her along. “Help me decide. The pipa or the erhu?”

“Definitely the pipa,” said Korra immediately.

Altani frowned, and it made her look remarkably like her father. “But I need to practice the erhu more, Sifu Chong said.”

“We’re flying,” Korra told her. “You might hurt someone with the bow.”

Altani scoffed. “I’d never.” But she turned to her erhu and carefully locked it in its case.

“Do you think we could stop by Omashu on the way?” she asked as bustled around the room. “I’d love to visit the Cave of Two Lovers.” For someone who should have been packed hours if not days ago, she still had a staggering amount of stuff lying around.

“Maybe,” said Korra. She didn’t want to make any promises. As good as it was to see Kuvira and her family again, the very prospect of being stuck on the back of an air bison with them for over three days was exhausting. There was a reason she didn’t actually _live_ with Kuvira, and it wasn’t just to maintain some semblance of political neutrality. The sooner they all got to Kyoshi Island and got settled, the better.

Altani sighed. “I guess I’ll have to ask Auntie Opal when she comes to visit. I heard the spirit presence there has increased--”

“Then that’s definitely not happening.”

Altani rolled her eyes, tugging on her white forelock. “Mom’s paranoid. I’m not Princess Yue, no spirit’s going to want to steal me away.”

“You know how she feels about them.”

Neither Kuvira nor Baatar had a good relationship with the spirits, but moreso than her husband, Kuvira maintained a particular paranoia about them. The cause of the streak of white in Altani’s otherwise dark hair had been hotly debated by both the family and nosey outsiders alike. Baatar believed it was the result of both his and Kuvira’s exposure to spirit vine energy, and Korra was inclined to believe him. Kuvira, in a surprising turn to superstition, had referred more than once to the legend of the Moon Spirit.

“C’mere, Tani,” said Korra, and when Altani did, she tucked a wayward strand of white behind her ear. “Your mom’s already very stressed. I know you’re too, but please be patient with her.”

The girl pressed her face into Korra’s chest and she sensed more than felt the few spots of damp her tears left there. “I’m fine,” said Altani muffled, when Korra reached up to stroke her hair. “I’m just tired.” She wriggled out of Korra’s embrace, wiping her face with her sleeve. “Let’s go.”

“What about the rest of your things?” asked Korra, gesturing at the sheets of music lying around.

“Oh, I talked to Tian Yin. She’s the new president’s daughter. She’s also in the orchestra, so she’ll take these and use them, or give them away.”

“If you say so.” Korra watched as Altani slung her instrument cases across her shoulders and offered her elbow.

“We’re not going to fit down the stairs side by side,” said Altani flatly.

“Then we’ll take an alternative route,” said Korra with a wink.

Altani’s eyes widened. “Yes!” And she was already rushing to the windows, throwing them wide and clambering onto the sill.

“Wait!” said Korra, and she went first, dropping into the air and bending a small twister up beneath her to keep herself aloft. She then held her arms out to Altani. “I’ll catch you.”

Altani threw herself into the air with the careless recklessness of youth, and Korra found herself rather winded by the combined ungainly weight of the girl and her two instrument cases. The ground wasn’t too far off though, and Korra settled them gently down on the grass. Far too soon for Altani’s liking, judging from the disappointed look on her face. “You’ll be flying again soon enough,” Korra said, and left Altani to throw herself against Shumai's furry side while the air bison lowed softly in greeting.

Korra walked back up to the house and peered through the door. Kuvira was leading Baatar in a fast paced two step through the room, both smiling in delight as they danced and spun around the empty space. Korra gave them a moment, then knocked softly on the doorframe. “I have Tani,” she said. “You two ready to go?”

Kuvira twirled away from Baatar, fetching up against Korra’s side with a grin. “Lead the way, Avatar.”

They trooped out of the house, Baatar pausing at the doorway to give a wall one last fond pat. Altani had already made herself comfortable behind Shumai’s head, strumming away at her pipa.

Kuvira snapped her fingers at her daughter. “Get in the saddle.”

“But mom--”

“Korra’s not going to dive off after you if you fall, young lady. Get in the saddle.”

Grumbling Altani crawled her way onto Shumai’s back, before helping her father climb onboard. Korra lightly bent herself onto the spot Altani had vacated, and took Shumai’s slack reins into her hand. She heard the soft rumble of rock as Kuvira too bent herself atop the air bison.

“Everyone ready?” she asked, twisting in her seat to make sure the three of them were settled. She tugged on the reins. “Yip yip!”

Shumai lifted herself into the air with a low moan, echoed by Kuvira’s soft moan. Like many earthbenders, she didn’t do so well in the air. Then there was Tani, who whooped in delight and leaned so far over the saddle to watch the ground recede that Korra swore she could feel the girls’ breath on the back of her neck.

Once they were high enough above the ground and pointed in the right direction, Korra gave Shumai her head and climbed into the saddle with the others. The air bison needed no further guidance; she knew where they were headed.

“Hey Kuvira?” The other woman was seated rigidly against the few luggage items they had brought with them and Tani’s instrument cases. One hand was clenched tightly around her husband’s in a manner that looked almost painful. The other white-knuckled the raised edge of Shumai’s saddle. “It’s fine,” said Korra, crawling over and settling down on Kuvira’s free side. She managed to pry Kuvira’s hand off the saddle and tucked it in her lap between her own.

“It’s not the flying,” said Baatar wrily, “not all of it.” He was digging around in his pack one-handed, and pulled out a book.

“I can’t leave,” Kuvira forced through gritted teeth. She was staring determinedly down into her lap, so some of it definitely was the flying. “What if it all goes to shit again?”

“Well,” said Korra gamely. “You’ve done everything to make sure it wouldn’t. The economy’s stable, responsible people are in charge--”

Kuvira groaned. “They’re idiots.”

Though he seemed deeply engrossed in his book, Korra caught Baatar rolling his eyes.

“Hey,” said Korra, more firmly, speaking more as a leader now than a lover. “They’re not children in need of guidance. You need to let them--”

“It’s condescending and paternalistic and it’s what got you voted out of office,” Baatar interrupted. Korra got the feeling that she’d stumbled right into an old argument.

“What do you know of politics?” Kuvira snarled. “You gave up your post after two years!”

“Like I told you, I wasn’t made for politics.”

“You just didn’t want the responsibility.”

“Yes,” said Baatar bluntly. “I didn’t. I also wanted at least one of us to have a hand in raising Tani.”

“Hey, don’t drag me into this,” Altani piped up from the front. She plucked away at her instruments, a frown creasing her brow.

“Okay!” yelled Korra. “Enough. You,” and she thumped the hand she had laced with Kuvira’s against the other woman’s chest. “Cut it out,” Korra snapped, tired of it all. It wasn’t like she hadn’t already heard several of Kuvira’s complaints for the past few months. “You've had a good long run. Almost two decades of it. Don’t forget that your people voted you out of office, Kuvira. That’s how a democracy works.”

“I remember,” Kuvira said shortly.

“You’re retiring, you’re not being sent into exile.”

“ _Yes_.”

“And _you_ ,” she stabbed her finger at Baatar, who glared at her from behind his glasses. “Don’t...no politics on this flight.”

He rolled his eyes again, but once she’d turned away, lifted Kuvira’s hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of it.

They heard a faint cheer, and it took Korra a moment to pinpoint that it came from below. “Oh!” cried Altani, leaning over the edge. “It’s Ba Sing Se! They’re saying goodbye!”

“How nice,” said Kuvira curtly, but some of the tightness in her expression eased. “We’ll come back and visit next year. If it’s not in ruins.”

Korra laughed. “Don’t be so dramatic. It survived you, didn’t it?” And before Kuvira could retort, she turned to Altani. “Why don’t you play something?”

“Okay,” said Altani, her fingers already moving nimbly across the pipa’s fretboard. “I don’t know all the lyrics, but it’s about two lovers, divided by war and an impassable mountain, and a secret tunnel…”

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, Altani is totally about to sing a remix of the top hit, _Secret Tunnel_.
> 
> I was going to make Altani a total anime girl with completely white hair ala Yue, then decided that was just being unnecessarily mean to Kuvira, who already believes her daughter has been marked by the spirits as punishment for her messing with powers beyond the ken of mortal beings, etc.
> 
> Title from the English translation of [Sekai no yakusoku](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuhOUeZHEBo) from _Howl's Moving Castle_ , though the song's far more beautifully bittersweet than this fic deserves. But an earworm's an earworm.


End file.
